Angel the prostitute with the heart of gold returns for the final installment (psst—not really) to investigate the disappearance of her long lost sister. For this even lower budget third part in the “Angel” saga, all of Angel’s colorful cohorts are gone, and the narrative suffers this time around because of it. Kit Carson and Solly are nowhere to be found, and Angel is pretty much just a free agent being led to the California strip, yet again. No longer a law student, Angel is now a freelance photographer who spends a lot of her nights running around with the police taking pictures of stings and busts for her paper.
Tag Archives: Thriller
Avenging Angel (1985)
The saga of Angel the prostitute with the heart of gold and a thirst for vengeance reaches new levels of camp with “Avenging Angel.” While “Angel” wasn’t exactly high art, “Avenging Angel” makes the former film look like a John Ford Western by comparison. That’s not to say “Avenging Angel” is an awful movie. It’s just so deliriously stupid and absurd, and I couldn’t help but enjoy everything from the goofy protagonists we have to root for, to the shoddy stunt work. If you liked the transvestite fighting off the serial killer in “Angel,” prepare for two transsexuals getting in to a fist fight with two armed thugs. Try not to notice the stunt doubles wearing bad wigs during the fight scene.
Captivity (2007)
Roland Joffé’s “Captivity” is another title in the utterly exhausting torture genre from the early aughts that died in death grip of the heinously awful “Wolf Creek.” Dark Sky and Roland Joffé ape everything that garnered “Saw” success, along with gambling on and likely over-estimating Elisha Cuthbert’s appeal. “Captivity” is another torture film with a woman in peril that involves a masked madman in the shadows, and a young woman that must be forced to self reflect in a cheesy morality theme, all the while avoiding certain death under his traps.
Angel (1984)
Robert Vincent O’Neill’s “Angel” is a fun mixture of a campy exploitation and a stern crime thriller that also conjures up some classic neo-noir overtones. The 1984 drama thriller about an under age prostitute trying to outwit a serial killer garners some clumsy plot elements but stands as a strong film overall. You’d figure it’d be distracting to be sucked in to a thriller starring a protagonist who hangs around an aged cowboy and a transvestite, but “Angel” gets the job done. Donna Wilkes gives a strong performance as young Molly Stewart, a high schooler by day who is also a prostitute by night.
Fender Bender (2016)
I’ll admit I went in to Mark Pavia’s “Fender Bender” expecting almost nothing and was shocked at how effective it was in the end. It’s a solid stalk and chase slasher film mixing “Death Proof” and “The Hitcher” and director Pavia delivers a strong genre entry suitable for a lazy Friday night and some beers. “Fender Bender” centers on young Hilary, a girl living in New Mexico with her parents who just got her license. After a terrible break up with her cheating boyfriend, she accidentally runs in to another driver causing a minor fender bender. The stranger in question is a very forward and charming man who is very generous and friendly to Hilary after exchanging information.
Cellblock Sisters: Banished Behind Bars (1995)
Henri Charr’s “Cellblock Sisters: Banished Behind Bars” (aka “Banished Behind Bars”) is one of the most nineties straight to video movies ever released. It’s a rip off of “Bad Boys” that pits nothing but gorgeous blond women against one another in a women’s prison and forces them to fight it out for control and petty grudges. Henri Charr’s crime thriller is surprisingly convoluted, but one that also gets a free pass for being one of the last of its kind before the early aughts indie resurgence of women in prison films.
Ils (Them) (2007)
Directors Moreau and Palud’s “Ils (Them),” is an unnerving and spooky horror entry almost in the vein of “The Strangers,” and “Last House on the Left,” that sets down on the countryside where hooded beings are terrorizing the locals and tourists. Clementine and Lucas go away for the weekend to their country home for holiday, and after a night of dinner and love making learn that they’re being terrorized by an endless group of hooded individuals who engage in a rather horrific game of cat and mouse.